C.W. Henderson & Associates

C.W. Henderson & Associates, Inc. is a registered investment advisor specializing in the conservative management of tax-exempt municipal securities. The firm was formed in September 1990 by Craig W. Henderson, after he had spent fifteen years in municipal bond trading and sales with the First Boston Corporation in both New York and Chicago.
Our firm has one office, which is located at 20 West Kinzie street just north of Chicago's Loop. In addition to Mr. Henderson, the firm employs ten professionals on a full time basis.

As of March 31, 2008 we currently manage $1.925 billion on a discretionary fee-only basis. We have 539 separate accounts, comprised of separate accounts as well as approximately 125 client relationships. Most of our clients are high net worth individuals, but we also manage money for corporations, family offices, investment consultants and a select few "wrap-fee" advisors.

All of our accounts are managed separately and actively in order to maximize our clients' total returns and to minimize the negative impact of capital gains taxes. Securities are purchased and sold on behalf of our clients with a focus on two main variables: credit quality and historical relative value.

We buy securities that are "cheap" on a historical basis. We only sell a security if it is "rich" on an historical basis and can be readily replaced by another security determined to be "cheap," so as to continuously improve the value of clients' overall portfolios. In short, our investment process emphasizes an opportunistic and value added approach to preserving and enhancing our clients' wealth.

Portfolio construction decisions are based primarily on 1) the use of high quality securities with unique characteristics that fit the parameters of our investment strategies, 2) on our analysis of the technical characteristics of the municipal market, and 3) to a modest extent, our outlook for interest rates. We are also guided by each clients' individual needs as determined during our comprehensive discussions regarding their individual goals and objectives (which often include discussions with clients' financial advisors.)

The municipal bond market is extremely broad and decentralized. Bonds are issued by many large municipalities, such as states, counties and cities, smaller municipalities and various municipal authorities that operate water systems, provide low cost mortgage assistance, oversee student loan programs, etc. Specific security knowledge is crucial to the research effort and drives effective purchase and sell decisions. Internal analysis done by C. W. Henderson & Associates is complemented by research received from over fifty broker dealers, many of whom have specialized expertise such as in-depth knowledge of housing bond cash flows, understanding of regional issuers and the like. Parallel in-house research involves careful and exhaustive analysis of individual bond indentures and structures with the goal of discovering undervalued securities likely to outperform the market. The firm continuously monitors portfolio constructions to assure that accounts are positioned advantageously relative to the Lehman Brothers Five Year Index.